Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) has released a research report today, 5 October 2011, looking at measurement of social capital in young people. This may be relevant to anyone working to help youth overcome an inheritance of socio-economic disadvantage.

Some key points:

“High levels of social capital in young people are found to enhance engagement, achievement and participation in education over and above the influences of family background, school type and geographical location, demonstrating that social capital has the potential to counteract the effects of disadvantage to some extent” (page 1).

“LSAY research suggests that young people’s networks have an impact on school transitions. School networks are shown to influence students’ levels of engagement, which in turn are strongly influenced by their connectedness to their schools, the relationships they have with their teachers, and the opportunities the school provides. This translates into elevated aspirations, better academic performance and increased school retention” (page 10).